Left
さかざらむものならなくにさくらばなおもかげにのみまだきみゆらむ
sakazaramu mono naranaku ni sakurabana nao mo kage ni nomi madaki miyuramu Wishing not to bloom Will not remain The cherry blossom, but Even so their shape alone Swiftly, I would wish to see!
Mitsune 3
Right
やまざくらさきぬるときはつねよりもみねのしらくもたちまさりけり
yamazakura sakinuru toki wa tsune yori mo mine no shirakumo tachimasarikeri When the mountain cherry Has bloomed, Earlier than usual Clouds of white around the peak Do rise spectacularly!
Tsurayuki 4[i]
The Left uses ‘wish’[ii] twice; the Right places the mountain cherries at a distance—that make the round a tie.
[i] This poem is included in Gosenshū (I: 118), with the headnote, ‘A poem from Former Emperor Uda’s Poetry Contest’.
[ii] Uda is objecting to Mitsune’s double usage of the auxiliary verb -ramu in his judgement here.
Love without meeting
Left (Win)
あふことのかたきしなればしらなみのたちよるかずはわれのみぞしる
au koto no katakishi nareba shiranami no tachiyoru kazu wa ware nomi zo shiru Meeting you is A distant cliff, so The whitecaps’ Numbers breaking there I alone do know.
21
Right
あはむとはおもひわたれどふじかはのすまずはつひにかげもみえじを
awamu to wa omoi wataredo fujikawa no sumazu wa tsui ni kage mo mieji o To meet her Passionately did I cross, yet The Fuji River Was so clouded that at the last Her shape I could not see at all…
Mitsune 22
On wisteria by a pond.
池水に梢の藤のかげみえて汀はかはるなみのいろかな
ikemizu ni kozue no fuji no kage miete migiwa wa kawaru nami no iro kana In the pond waters Wisteria in the treetops Shape I see; At the water’s edge changing Shades among the waves!
Ton’a (1289-1372) 頓阿
Composed at the Kameyama Palace in the Eighth Month, Kenji 2 [1276], when the first topic announced was ‘the shape of a pine tree floating in a pond’.
万代とかめのを山の松かげをうつしてすめるやどの池水
yorozuyo to kame no oyama no matsukage o utsushite sumeru yado no ikemizu For ten thousand generations On the mount of Kame Is the pine tree’s shape, Reflected, so clear in This dwelling’s pond waters.
The Retired Emperor [Kameyama]
Left
いつの間に花かれにけむながくだにありせば夏のかげとみましを
itsu no ma ni hana karenikemu nagaku dani ariseba natsu no kage to mimashi o In an instant The blossoms seems to wither! If but longer They were here, summer’s Shape I would see in them…
66
Right
幾千たび鳴きかへるらむ足引の山ほととぎす声はわすれて
ikuchi tabi nakikaeruramu ashihiki no yamahototogisu koe wa wasurete How many thousand times, Does he return to sing? The leg-wearying Mountain cuckoo, Forgetting his song…
67
Autumn
Left
秋の夜の有明にみれど久堅の月のかつらはうつろはぬかな
aki no yo no ariake ni miredo hisakata no tsuki no katsura wa utsurouwanu kana An autumn night’s Dawn I see, yet The eternal Moon’s silver trees Show no sign of fading!
13
秋萩の花咲く比の白露は下ばのためとわきて置くべし
aki hagi no hana saku koro no shiratsuyu wa shitaba no tame to wakite okubeshi In autumn, the bush clover Flowers bloom—just then Silver dewdrops For the under-leaves Do fall, marking every one.
14
秋風はいなばもそよとふきつめりかりみる程と成りやしぬらん
akikaze wa inaba mo soyo to fukitsumeri kari miru hodo to nari ya shinuran The autumn breeze Seems to rustle the rice stalks As it blows; Seeing if ‘tis time to reap them— Is that what it is, I wonder?
15
Right
銀河とわたる舟は花薄ほにいづるほどぞかげもみゆべき
ama no kawa towataru fune wa hanasusuki ho ni izuru hodo zo kage mo miyubeki Across the River of Heaven A boat goes ferrying: When the silver grass Ears burst into bloom, Can its shape be seen.
16
女郎花さがの花をば色ながら秋をさかりといはれずもがな
ominaeshi saga no hana oba iro nagara aki o sakari to iwarezu mogana Maidenflowers: Blossoms from Saga Reveal their hues, and In autumn are most fine—that Goes without saying!
17
小男鹿の朝たつ霧にうりふ山嶺の梢は色こかりけり
saoshika no asa tatsu kiri ni urifuyama mine no kozue wa iro kokarikeri Stags Within the rising morning mist on Urifu Moutain, where The treetops on the peak Have taken darker hues.
18
よし野河ながれて過ぐるとしなみにたちゐのかげも暮れにけるかな
yoshinogawa nagarete suguru toshinami ni tachi’i no kage mo kurenikeru kana The River Yoshino Flows past The year’s waves Rise and fall, shapes Vanish into the twilight.
Ōe no Masafusa
すべらぎのながゐの池は水すみてのどかにちよのかげぞ見えける
suberagi no nagai no ike wa mizu sumite nodoka ni chiyo no kage zo miekeru Our Sovereign’s Nagai Pond has Water so clear, that In peaceful calm a thousand generations Shape is revealed.
Higo
Mandarin Ducks 鴛鴦
山河にともなきをしはかげをみてひとつがひある心ちすらしも
yamakawa ni tomonaki oshi wa kage o mite hitotsugai aru kokochi sura shimo In a mountain stream A mateless mandarin does See a shape and A pair Even he feels himself to be!
Kanemasa
Left (Tie).
やすらひに出にしまゝの月の影我涙のみ袖に待てども
yasurai ni
idenishi mama no
tsuki no kage
wa ga namida nomi
sode ni matedomo
Reluctantly
Emerged and left
That moonlight shape;
Though my tears, alone,
Upon my sleeves do wait…
Lord Sada’ie .
909
Right.
をろかにも思やるかな君もゝしひとりや今宵月を見るらん
oroka ni mo
omoiyaru kana
kimi mo moshi
hitori ya koyoi
tsuki o miruran
Heedlessly
Do I wonder
Whether maybe she, too,
Is alone this night
And gazing at the moon…
Nobusada .
910
The Right state: we cannot grasp the sense of the Left’s poem. The Left state: we are unable to understand the reason for the Right’s use of ‘heedlessly’ (oroka ni mo ).
In judgement: while both poems do appear to have some conception, the Gentlemen of both Left and Right appear to have stated that they are unable to grasp it. Far be it from me to provide an interpretation in the light of this, so I shall follow the Gentlemen’s remarks and make this round a tie.
'Simply moving and elegant'